Biometric authentication, which performs personal authentication using biometric information, has the need to reduce the probability that the system rejects enrolled persons as unidentified or unverified persons (false reject rate) and the probability that the system incorrectly accepts unenrolled or impostor persons as enrolled persons (false acceptance rate). One solution to that need is multi-biometric authentication, which performs authentication using a plurality of kinds of biometric information acquired from a plurality of sites.
A multi-biometric authentication device that uses fingerprints and palm prints is discussed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 3-217984. A multi-biometric authentication device that employs a plurality of sensors is discussed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-277341. A technique that utilizes a positional relationship between two or more fingers is discussed in International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2005/069212. A technique that captures a plurality of fingerprint data elements at predetermined time intervals is discussed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-167280.